Posted Fri Nov 03 23:36:00 EAT 2017

Voter turnout below 20 per cent in 113 constituencies in repeat poll

By NEWSPLEX TEAM

In almost 40 per cent of constituencies, less than a fifth of registered voters cast ballots in the October 26 election, data from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) shows.

A review of the IEBC figures by Nation Newsplex reveals that the 113 constituencies that recorded drastically low voter turnouts of below 20 per cent were from Western, Coast, lower Eastern, Nairobi, North Eastern and Nyanza regions.

These are areas that National Super Alliance (Nasa) and other parties that were allied to Mr Raila Odinga had won in past elections. The number includes the 25 constituencies in Luo Nyanza, Mr Raila Odinga’s stronghold, which boycotted the election.

However, voters from Central Kenya turned up to vote in the re-run in nearly the same numbers as the August 8 Presidential poll, according to IEBC’s figures.

The 32 constituencies that recorded a turnout of 80 per cent or more were all from Central region, apart from Bahati and Subukia in Nakuru County which had voter turnouts of 82 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively

Among the 265 constituencies that participated in the repeat presidential election, Kisumu West where 51 votes were cast, and Taveta, where 69 ballots were cast, had the lowest voter turnout, of less than one per cent. They were followed by Butula with 402 votes cast, or one per cent turnout.

Other constituencies in which less than 1,000 ballots were cast include Vihiga (817) and Nambale (840) in Western region, and Muhoroni (848) in Nyanza.

Voter turnout in Butula and Teso South constituencies in Western region plunged by 78 percentage points compared to the August poll, the largest drop of the constituencies that took part in the re-run.

In the Newsplex analysis, turnout includes both valid votes and rejected votes. The analysis excluded Turkana West where 50,082 ballots cast on August 8 as recorded in IEBC’s Form 34C exceeded the 31,416 total registered voters by almost 60 per cent. It also left out Nyando Constituency because the August 8 Form 34C did not indicate number of votes cast in that constituency.

OVERALL VOTER TURNOUT

In nearly a third of the counties, less than 15 per cent of registered voters cast ballots in the poll. The 14 counties that recorded a voter turnout of below 15 per cent were from Western, Coast,lower Eastern, North Eastern and Nyanza regions.

Gatundu North, which neighbours Gatundu South, which President Uhuru Kenyatta represented in Parliament before becoming President, and Kigumo constituencies, had the highest turnout in the entire county, of 87 per cent.

They were followed by Githunguri, Othaya, Kandara, Lari, Gatundu South, Kiharu, Mathioya and Kinangop which recorded an 86 per cent turnout.